Fan Zone - Bookcase Decor

Hey there!

Fall decor is pretty important at my house and nothing quite says fall like sports. A few weeks ago we created some great football team bottles. I thought this week we’d create something for the bookshelf.

(image credit walmart.com)

I find that one of the easiest ways to jazz up a bookcase is with cute tchotchkes from your favorite sports team. I have seen wooden sports word blocks. I thought they were so cute and not overly girlie so they could go anywhere in your home. In fact, depending on the colors you use, they could be for any season.

To mimic the sports box signs you can use books! I always have old books lying around the house but if you don’t, a trip to the dollar store or thrift store is in order. Make sure that you pick books with a large binding so you that you can write on them. I made sure that they weren’t books I’d be reaching for anytime soon.

I picked 4 larger hardback books for this project. The reason that I like hardback books over softback is that the material used on hardback books is easier to paint over. Softback books usually have a gloss on them and while it’s not impossible to paint over them, it’s not always easy. Some of them have a glossy coating that’s not always paint friendly.

I removed the dust jackets from my books and pulled out my acrylic paints. I just used the fifty cent paint from Walmart. I love the warm fall colors so I picked “Golden Yellow”, “Bark Brown”, “Pumpkin” and “Christmas Green”. You could go with fall colors or you can use your favorite sports team’s colors.

I decided which book I wanted to place on the bottom and which book I wanted to go on the top. This is important because the books that are on the bottom can just get a coat of paint on the spine. The book on the top has to be painted on the spine and the top cover.

I used three coats of paint for my bottom three books and four coats for my top book. The yellow wasn’t as opaque so I had to work just a bit harder.

You can choose the theme of your project with the words you decide to use. You can go with football or soccer or whatever sport you want to highlight. I decided on a few basketball phrases that I wanted to use.

I took white paint and painted my sports phrases on my books. I tried to change the font on each book.

You can keep your books plain or you can dress them up. I’ve used sports ribbon that I found at the craft store but you could use rich, jewel toned, fall ribbons if you’d like. I also decided to add a few felt leaves for that extra touch. You can bedazzle yours or add any special touches.

I am sure that you will find that your hardback book signs will look so good on your bookshelf or mantle or maybe on your coffee table. You can keep them up year ‘round or change them out for each season. The possibilities are endless.

If you decide to create your own sign, make sure you tag CleatSheet on Instagram! We’d love to see how yours turned out.